DePaul University Athletics
Volleyball Hits the Road
10/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Weekly Notes
CHICAGO- The DePaul volleyball team will travel to Saint Louis and Memphis for a pair of Conference USA matches this weekend. The Blue Demons will face Saint Louis on Friday and Memphis on Saturday; both matches are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. (CST).
Coming into this weekend, DePaul (10-14, 3-4 C-USA) is in ninth place in the conference standings. Last weekend the Blue Demons made a big jump in the standings, defeating TCU, 3-2 and Houston, 3-1. Earlier this week the Blue Demons dropped a 3-0 match at UW-Milwaukee.
Following last weekend’s wins over TCU and Houston, senior middle blocker Janet Goreham became the first DePaul player since 2001 to be named C-USA Player of the Week. The senior, recorded a pair of double-doubles finishing the weekend with 30 kills, 25 digs and 19 total blocks (6 block solos and 13 block assists). Goreham was a block assist shy of a triple-double in the Houston match (16 kills, 11 digs, nine block assists).
The Blue Demons have a 19-24 combined record against Saint Louis and Memphis. The last time the Blue Demons defeated both Saint Louis and Memphis was in 2000.
Saint Louis
Friday, October 29- 7:00 p.m.
Bauman-Eberhardt Athletic Center- St. Louis, MO
The Billikens (11-13, 3-4 C-USA) come into the weekend after downing, Cincinnati 3-2 last Sunday. Saint Louis is led by the nation’s second best hitter junior Aida Antaviciute. The junior averages 6.64 kills per game and recorded 32 kills in the Billikens win over UC. She was also named CVU.com National Player of the Week, last week.
Memphis
Saturday, October 30- 7:00 p.m.
Elma Roane Fieldhouse- Memphis, TN
The Tigers (21-7, 5-2 C-USA) snapped their three-match losing streak on Tuesday, downing Middle Tennessee State 3-0. Last weekend, Memphis fell victim to Louisville and Cincinnati after opening C-USA play 5-0. The Tigers are sharp servers, and are led C-USA best, Christen Clayton. Clayton has tallied 57 service aces this season. Melissa Nance has recorded 45 aces, ranking her fourth in the league.
Returning Home
The Blue Demons will return to the DePaul Athletic Center, Friday and Saturday November 5-6. DePaul will take on Southern Miss on Friday and Tulane on Saturday. On Saturday, the Blue Demons will celebrate “Senior Night,” honoring Janet Goreham, Amy Holmes and Amie West.
Conference USA Tournament
The 2004 ChevronTexaco Conference USA Volleyball Tournament will take place Nov. 19-22 in Louisville. The University of Louisville will serve as the host school for the four-day event, with all matches being held at Cardinal Arena on the U of L campus. The championship match on Monday, Nov. 22 will be televised by CSTV and affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network. The Blue Demons won the tournament in 2001 and Louisville is the defending champions.
Down on Ball
The Blue Demons are ranked second in C-USA in digs per game; averaging 17.02 digs per game, Marquette leads the league averaging 17.23 digs per game. Ellen Hayes leads the Blue Demons and averages 4.17 digs per game and is ranked sixth in C-USA.
Goreham Named C-USA Player of the Week
Senior, Janet Goreham was named C-USA Player of the Week for week of October 17-23. The senior led DePaul to its first sweep of weekend matches in C-USA play this season. She recorded a pair of double-doubles finishing the weekend with 30 kills, 25 digs and 19 total blocks (6 block solos and 13 block assists). Goreham was a block assist shy of a triple-double in the Houston match (16 kills, 11 digs, nine block assists).
New Face in an Old Position
Senior Amy Holmes has shown her versatility this season, starting the season as one of the Blue Demons offensive threats on the outside and will end her senior season as the team’s setter. Holmes took over the starting setting position when Amie West and Mandi Caputo, (DePaul’s two setters) who are out for the season with injuries. In Holmes’ first appearance as setter, she set a new three-game high 43 assists.
Dig for Cure
The Blue Demons participated in Dig for Cure on October 23rd. DePaul partnered with all the other Conference USA Volleyball programs in an effort to raise $30,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Blue Demons raised over $3,000 that was donated to the Chicago area Komen Foundation.
Zavitz Jumps In
Redshirt freshman Aly Zavitz entered the starting line-up at UAB (October 10) when the line-up was shuffled due to the injury of Amy West. As a starter, Zavitz has recorded 20 kills, 31 digs and 12 block assists.
Hayes Can Be Found Where…
Ellen Hayes spent the 2003 season as the team’s libero and started the 2004 season a middle blocker, but her presence was missed on defense and on September 29 she returned to the back row. Hayes has started the last 10 matches as the team’s libero and averages a team high 15.29 digs per match.
Eye on 1,000
Senior Amy Holmes is on the verge of 1,000 career digs. Prior to the 2004 season she had registered 697 digs and this season, and has 285 this season. Holmes is averaging 11.86 digs per match which paces her to record her 1,000th dig at Memphis on October, 30th.
Thirsty for 30
Sophomore libero Ellen Hayes has done what no other Blue Demon has done; record 30+ digs multiple times in a season. The sophomore recorded her first 30-dig performance on September 29, recording 30-digs at Valparaiso. As an encore, Hayes treated the home crowd to 32 digs against TCU on October 22nd. 32-digs in a match, is the most by a DePaul player since the Blue Demons entered Conference USA in 1995.
Out for the Season
Amie West is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, she was declared ineligible after the Marquette game. West finished her career at DePaul with 3,390 career assist and is in sole possession of the No. 3 for most career assists. Michelle Vonderheide (1989-1992) is second, she amassed 6,278 assist in her career.
Freshman setter, Mandi Caputo will sit out the rest of the season due to a broken finger. Caputo will use this season as her red-shirt season and will have four years of eligibility left.
Ace in the Hole
Junior Mandy Moorberg found the defensive holes in the Eastern Illinois defense, notching a season and career high seven service aces on Friday, September 17th. The team notched 11 total aces. Moorberg averages 0.50 service aces per game and is ranking her the seventh for most aces per game.
Road Block
DePaul sophomore middle blocker Denae Gibson tallied six of the teams 10 solo blocks September 24, against Evansville. Individually, Gibson tallied seven of DePaul’s 16 total team blocks. Ellen Hayes, Morgan Ingersoll, Amy Holmes, Janet Goreham, and Mandy Moorberg also recorded at least one block assist during the match.
October Birthday’s
The Blue Demons will celebrate four birthday’s during the month of October, Aly Zavitz (10/3), Stacy Pando (10/17), Mandy Moorberg (10/23) and Denae Gibson (10/29).
More from Moorberg
Junior outside hitter Mandy Moorberg leads the team in total kills, tallying 268 putaways. She is also averaging a team high 3.62 kills per game. Moorberg holds the team’s season best for most kills in a match (25), most attempts (61), most points (26.5) and most service aces (7). She was also named to the All-Tournament team at the IPFW Invitational.
Goreham Gathers Honors
Senior Middle Blocker, Janet Goreham was named the MVP of the Mizuno Wildcat Classic in Davidson, N.C. The senior compiled a .425 hitting percentage and tallied 38 kills and digs, 16 total blocks and three service aces over during the tournament. At the Blue Demon Invitational September 17-18 Goreham was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 4.0 kills per game and notching 13 total blocks.
Finding the Hitter
Senior setter Amie West set a new career best when she “assisted” 71 hitters in finding the wood against Virginia Commonwealth.
The Amie’s
Seniors Amy Holmes and Amie West were named to the Mizuno Wildcat Classic All-Tournament roster. Holmes finished the weekend with 37 kills, 48 digs and two blocks. West averaged 15 assists per game and tallied 135 assists over 10 games.
Undefeated Demons
DePaul opened it season with a perfect 4-0 record for the first time since the 2001 season. The 2001 team started the season 9-0 and finished with a 24-9 record and made the program’s second NCAA Tournament appearance.
Success in North Carolina
The Blue Demons captured the Mizuno Wildcat Classic Crown on September 5th in Davidson N.C. DePaul defeated Florida Atlantic (3-0), Virginia Commonwealth (3-1) and host Davidson (3-0) to earn the championship honors. The team averaged 16.90 kills, 16.10 assists and 21.20 digs during their three matches.
The Class of 2008
Redshirt freshman Aly Zavitz was joined by true freshmen Mandi Caputo, Stacy Pando and Maureen Zigulich this season. Zavitz and Pando are middle blockers, Caputo a setter and Zigulich becomes DePaul first true libero.
